I’m just a modern guy, of course I’ve had it in the ear before.
Iggy Pop and the Post Pop Depression Tour 2016.
Having been raised by the self proclaimed Rock Dawg, my dad taught me very early on in my childhood about the rich history of Detroit Rock City, turning me onto The MC5, The Amboy Dukes, Frijid Pink, John Lee Hooker, both the Motor City Madman Uncle Ted and the Motor City Mellowman Bob Seeger and of course The Stooges and Iggy Pop.
The MC5 and The Stooges were staples in my early exploration of rock and roll. They led me down a many rabbit holes in discovering all kinds of music they have influenced over the years. To this day, Kick out the Jams and The Stooges first album are comfort foods for me. They never get old. My dad and I would catch a lot of shows, I never thought I would get to see The Stooges or the MC5. Fortunately in 2007, the Stooges cut the Weirdness album and toured. I had promptly bought him and I tickets for the show at the historic Fox Theater. So I was lucky enough to have seen the band before the Asheton brothers both passed. We got to meet Machine Gun Thompson drummer from the MC5 in 2015, and in 2018 me and him were able to see Brother Wayne Kramer live, the closest to seeing the MC5 you could possibly get.
When it came out that Iggy and Josh Homme were working on a record together I flipped my lid. Josh is another huge influence on me, Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, The Desert Sessions, Them Crooked Vultures, are all massively impactful to me. Homme is one of those guys where you know a thousand percent when he is involved. An actual authentic signature sound and I fucking can’t get enough of it. The release of the album was announced with “probably the last tour Iggy will do” news. I just had to be there, called my Dad to let him know and he said the same.
Iggy was bringing the all star cast he tapped to write the record on the road. Matt Helders from The Arctic Monkeys working the skins, Dean Fertita from Dead Weather and Queens working the keys, Josh of course, Zwan bassist and all around journeyman Matt Sweeney and for added backup Failure, A Perfect Circle, and Queens axeman Troy Van Leeuwan to round out the touring band. Talk about a who’s who of big dick swingers.
Wicked Stoked is an understatement, I never thought the first time I’d see some of my favorite musicians would be supporting the Godfather of Punk himself. Over the years I would always miss Queens when they were on tour, usually due to conflicts with other shows, and general brokeass ness. They had always eluded me, A Perfect Circle had pretty much stopped touring as well. I had seen the Monkeys twice supporting the Black Keys, but two of my favorite bands APC and QOTSA had been missing from my resume. I’ve since seen APC twice and have finally caught Queens live. But with the announcement of this show I was beyond eager to see this smorgasbord of rock and roll royalty play together.
Ole Greg the guy I worked with for years was also a big music guy, and when I told him about the gig, he told me to get him a ticket. So I grabbed three, one for me, my Dad and Ole Greg. We were confirmed for the show, and ready to roll.
Greg had a couple buddies that were also going, so we all met up at the Sports Venue in Garden City to pregame, my dad being the only sober one in the bunch was taking the wheel for the night. We smashed a burger and I sucked down a handful of Pabsts, before burning a joint with Greg and his buddies before heading for downtown with a suitable buzz to start the evening.
I couldn’t tell you who opened the show. I have a vague recollection of watching them, but was so anxious for Iggy I paid little to no attention, hitting the smoking porch and bar to beef up my buzz before the fellas took the stage.
With a beer in one hand and a double shot of Jameson in the other I made it back down to our seats in time for the house lights to go down. The band came out wearing red suit jackets and took their positions, the George of the Jungle sounding swing from Matt Helders kit started and they launched into ‘Lust for Life’ the band playing the opening chords before announcing Iggy, who came out bouncing onto the stage dressed in a black suit, the “here comes Johnny Yen again” opening line hit and it was fucking on! Kicking off the set with unbridled tenacity.
It didn’t take long before Iggy was taking off his jacket and shirt, moving around the stage like a tweaking teenager, his age not showing at all. Looking like a well toned, sculpted Rawlings baseball mitt. The Godfather was in peak form. I was going nuts. The band was on fire, Iggy’s vocals were everything you hoped for. Coulda been 1977 for all I knew, the way he sounded.
They then went into Sister Midnight. In between songs Iggy was humbly thanking the crowd, and was incredibly enthusiastic, engaging with the congregation as they tore into a set that was full of cuts from the new record, Lust For Life and The Idiot. Heavy on the Bowie produced records from the start of his solo career. Josh’s tones and the rest of the band complimented these classics so well, it was the perfect fit. The show was pure insanity, the crowd was a solid mix of old timers and young bloods alike. My dad and I sharing smiles with each track.
The set was pretty much every song I had hoped to hear, Passenger, Some Weird Sin, Sixteen, Tonight, Night Clubbing, China Girl, along with the new stuff, American Valhalla, Break into your heart, Gardenia, Sunday, Chocolate Drops to name a few of the highlights. After a hard hitting China Girl the band left the stage, coming back for a seven song encore, leading up to what might have been the absolute highlight of the night, their performance of Paraguay, a cut off Post Pop that builds into this epic angry rant from Iggy, that just murdered, before ending the show with Success.
Iggy got more and more energetic as the night progressed, proving that no one can touch his frontman capabilities. Repeatedly thanking the crowd throughout the night, you could feel his gratitude. It was a mind blowing night, and one of my all time favorite shows I’ve been fortunate to attend over the years.
It knocked off another Detroit legend my dad and I were able to see as well. As we made our way to the exits when we got to the vestibule at the entrance people started yelling hey it’s Bob Seger, we looked to our left and sure as shit there was the Motor City Mellow Man, rushing to get out and as he crossed Woodward he turned around and waved before hightailing it towards Comerica. I definitely needed a cigarette after the show, so I burned a few on the way to our car, and excitedly recapping the set with my Dad and Ole Greg. Mind still wrapping around what I had just witnessed.
They recorded a show at the legendary Royal Albert Hall that they put out shortly after. The set was similar to the Detroit show, missing a handful of tracks, but it captures a ton of the magic from the Iggy and the boys. It’s definitely worth checking out, just to get a soft taste of the absolute monster energy from that tour. You can find it on Spotify or your local record store. Definitely treat your ear holes to that listening experience.